11/08/2025
What bubbles up from within us during prayer? Do we ever begin to pray and then hear ourselves as if from some faraway place; speaking to God in a language of groans and utterances that we can’t translate into words, but feel perfectly conversant in within our hearts? Our spirit, and the Holy Spirit that resides within us are speaking to God in a dialect unknown to us but understood perfectly in Heaven.
“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”
Romans 8:26-27 KJV
One day, while watching a documentary on earthquakes, I was amazed by something called liquefaction in which solid ground will suddenly begin to behave like a liquid as it bubbles to the surface and flows like water. In researching this phenomenon here is how it is described in dictionary texts...
“A saturated or partially saturated soil substantially loses strength and stiffness in response to an applied stress, usually earthquake shaking or other sudden change in stress condition, causing it to behave like a liquid.” - Wikipedia
Sometimes our prayers can feel like this, we are praying along comfortably, and as we reach the point of spiritual saturation we become overcome by heartbreak, or joy, and the spiritual pressure within us reaches the point at which our oral prayers change from spoken words to utterances, or the equivalent of solid ground turning to liquid. Maybe we need a new word for this.... let’s call it “spiritefaction! Actually, we already have phrases for this phenomenon... we call it being “filled with the Spirit”, “filled with the Holy Ghost”, or, if it takes the form of an unknown language, we call it speaking in tongues.
Some resist this “spiritefaction” because they view it as barbaric, others find it to be frightening, some find it betrays their academic self-righteousness, but for many it is as natural as taking their next breath. Regardless of how it is viewed, it happens, and it is as spiritually and emotionally satisfying as the cooing of lovers.
There is a time and place for every form of prayer, whether it is joyful, sorrowful, intercessory, public, private, intimate, or familiar, but there are also times when words fail us, and a moan, a sob, or spiritual utterance communicates best the indescribable feelings of our heart. These moans and strange utterances are the wails of our distress or the laughter of our heart, and they speak in strange sounds and tongues because we have reached the limits of our language and are crying out from deep within our spirit, but both are valid forms of prayer and are communicating directly with God.
“For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.”
1 Corinthians 14:2 KJV
There should be no prayer that we withhold from God. If you are wrapped up in academic or spiritual elitism, and feel this spiritual moaning lessens you, or is a loss of self-control, I challenge you to let go of your grip and abandon your stuffiness. The next time you are really hurting, or feel overcome by strong emotion, listen to your spirit; just stop searching your vocabulary for the right words and give rein to your heart; let that groan within you well up and come forth. You will find that you are speaking directly to God in the language of our most basic selves. You don’t have to publicly pray in this manner, nor must you confess it to your friends... this can be your secret time with God, and it will satisfy you in a way that you can’t explain intellectually.
Praying in the Spirit, or as we are calling it “spiritifaction” will change the solid vocabulary of our prayer life into a fluid and flowing form of prayer that overcomes containment. It wells up from deep within us and fills every crack and crevice in our spirituality with a mortar that will harden almost instantly once our uttering has ceased, and it will strengthen us spiritually as it does so. If this sounds odd to you, then I ask you a simple question... “What is a sob?” Can you explain it? Do you know where it comes from and why you can’t hold it in? Although many have tried, none have succeeded; however, it is real, natural, and comforts us in some unknown way. So, we have given up trying to define a sob, a cry, and a laugh... they are just a part of who we are physically, emotionally, mentally, and yes… spiritually. I propose to you that moaning and other such utterances are just as natural in our spiritual communication with God as our words, and perhaps more so. Let’s let go of our fear of losing self-control or ridicule, and let the Holy Spirit speak and cry out from within us.
“If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds?”
1 Corinthians 14:23 ESV
So, there is a time and place for all forms of prayer. This is equally true of praying fervently in the Spirit. Pray this way when you are comfortable doing so. Let the Spirit lead you, but don’t allow your inhibitions to rob you of a satisfying and valid form of prayer that will comfort you.
“So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But all things should be done decently and in order.”
1 Corinthians 14:39-40 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the intimate prayers I share with you. I thank you for the most basic utterances that well up from within me... those that you know so well, and which reveal openly to you my spirit’s longings and emotion. Most Gracious Father, I thank you for the movement of your Holy Spirit within me, and the strange sounds and tongues that it speaks by the use of my lips, and voice. Never let me withhold the desire of my spirit to communicate its deepest feelings and heartbreak to you; never let me say to the Holy Spirit within me, “Speak not!” We realize that there is a time and place for all prayers, and Father, we ask that you direct us as we pray. Let intimate prayers be for those times and places reserved for such, just as joyous prayers are best for times of celebration, but in every season and circumstance, always let us pray, and as we do, encourage us to be open and hold nothing back from you. Heal us in every way as we pray and direct us as we follow the lead of your Holy Spirit from our knees, prostrate, or sitting in our prayer chairs and closets. Praised be your name Holy Father and may our prayers of praise and thanksgiving know no end, no inhibition and no bounds. Let the spiritifaction of prayer fill us and our innermost desires be realized as we praise you as we allow each one to come forth clothed in the loving sincerity of our hearts and souls. Hear us Abba as we shout out to you saying, Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah… or as we moan in the Spirit before saying at last… Amen!
Rich Forbes